According to a study by Monika Janda, Ph.D., at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, showing people videos on skin self examination and skin awareness may increase the diagnosis of skin cancer by increasing the number of people going to see their doctor for skin checks.

The importance of early diagnosis of melanoma and other skin cancers in successful treatment is well known. While the number of people dying form melanoma in the United States has decreased in women, this improvement has not been seen in men.

930 men, 50 years and older were randomly assigned to groups receiving either video instruction and written information about skin cancer and skin awareness, or only written information. Several months after the study started, it was found that more people receiving both video and written information had a higher rate of seeing doctors and cancer diagnosis.

The authors explained that "with increasing evidence from observational studies supporting the effects of clinical skin evaluation in reducing the incidence of thick melanomas and melanoma-associated mortality rates and with evidence of potential reductions in the cost-benefit ratio, our results support implementing behavioral interventions to encourage skin awareness among men aged at least 50 years."

This study shows how encouraging people to learn more about skin awareness can increase skin monitoring and hopefully lead to lower deaths from skin cancers.